Chapter 146

Ning Xu ignored Si Yan and decided to capture the demon who had targeted him first.

The two of them sped toward the depths of the Hundred Gu Valley. The scenery around them kept shifting—what was once sparse woodland grew lush and dense. At first, sunlight filtered through the branches, but now it was completely blocked, plunging the area into shadow. The temperature seemed to drop significantly in an instant.

They could hear rustling sounds all around—like snakes slithering or insects crawling over dead leaves. Ning Xu used her divine sense to probe the surroundings and quickly discovered a large number of venomous insects. A single one might not be dangerous, but together, their toxicity was formidable.

With a clear objective, Ning Xu and Si Yan avoided the poisonous creatures as much as possible. If they couldn’t, they dealt with them swiftly, never lingering in one spot for too long.

After half an hour, they stopped simultaneously, moving in perfect sync.

Si Yan’s Obsidian Sword trembled in his hand. “We can’t go any further.”

Ning Xu hummed in agreement.

She scanned their surroundings and said calmly, “Aren’t you going to show yourself, fellow Daoist?”

As soon as she spoke, the demon who had attacked Si Yan stepped out from behind a large tree.

He wore a wide cloak that concealed his face, and his figure seemed utterly unremarkable—someone who could easily disappear into a crowd without notice.

Seeing them, the demon spoke in a flat tone, “I didn’t expect you to arrive here so soon.”

Then, with a hint of regret, he added, “It’s a pity that Gu worm failed to take your lives.”

Although the divine sense Gu was aimed at Si Yan, once it went berserk, it would inevitably affect Ning Xu as well. The demon might have targeted Si Yan, but what he truly wanted was to eliminate both of them.

Yet, he wasn’t too disappointed. The demons had anticipated various outcomes and prepared backup plans in advance.

“But… this is where it ends.”

As soon as he finished speaking, an eerie wind began to rise, and clusters of flames ignited abruptly around Ning Xu and Si Yan. The flames carried an ominous heat, appearing out of nowhere, burning red with streaks of green, clearly not ordinary fire.

The demon sneered, “Enjoy your final moments!”

Ning Xu remained unhurried, carefully observing the flames. “A unique demon fire… is this the Endless Demon Flame?”

Her mind quickly sifted through various bits of knowledge, and before long, she matched the patterns before her with known formations.

“And paired with the ancient Seventh-Grade Entrapment and Execution Formation—Strangulation.” Demon fire combined with an execution formation—an undeniably lethal combination.

Hearing her name the formation, the demon was visibly shocked. “You even recognize the Strangulation Formation?!”

Though it was only seventh-grade, its ancient origins made it far more powerful than ordinary tenth-grade formations, which were already capable of trapping Tribulation Stage cultivators. According to Ning Xu’s knowledge, this formation had been lost for over a thousand years. She hadn’t expected the demons to be able to deploy it.

It seemed they truly wanted her dead.

Ning Xu asked politely, “May I ask why you’re targeting me?”

As far as she knew, she had been keeping a low profile for the past few years and had no deep grudges against the demon race. So why were they suddenly coming after her?

The demon: ???

At a time like this, you’re asking that?

He felt oddly offended.

Her tone was polite and gentle, yet given the current situation, the demon could only feel a creeping sense of dread.

From his perspective, even though Ning Xu and Si Yan were strong and possessed many treasures, they shouldn’t be able to resist the combined power of a top-tier seventh-grade entrapment formation and the Endless Demon Flame.

After all, the Endless Demon Flame was a sacred fire of the demon race. Under its burning, any cultivator below the Mahayana Stage wouldn’t last more than half a cup of tea’s time.

She shouldn’t be this calm. She shouldn’t be this indifferent.

Yet, she was. It was as if she didn’t consider the situation a threat at all.

What was giving her this confidence? Aside from what was already known, did she have some hidden trump card?

The demon didn’t respond, so Ning Xu had to make her own guesses.

She asked, “Is it because of the Demon King’s Demon Core fragments?”

The demon still said nothing, but a fleeting fluctuation in his demonic aura was enough to confirm her suspicions.

Crossing her arms, Ning Xu continued her analysis. “The demon race must be aware that my natal spirit beast has devoured more than one Demon Core fragment. So, you’re after the fragments.” Her tone was no longer questioning but certain.

Because apart from those fragments, she couldn’t think of anything else she possessed that would make the demons go to such lengths.

The moment she finished speaking, an elderly white-haired demon suddenly appeared. Her voice was chilling as she said, “With your current cultivation level, you won’t last three seconds under the Endless Demon Flame.”

Then, turning to the cloaked demon, she ordered, “There’s no need to waste words on someone who’s about to die. Just finish the job.”

Ning Xu had noticed by now—villains in the cultivation world were all ruthlessly efficient. They never wasted words they didn’t need to say.

The demon responded, “Yes, Elder.”

Just as the old demon finished speaking, the Sacred Fire of the demon race suddenly surged higher. At first, the small flames seemed relatively harmless, but as they grew larger, they instantly exuded a power capable of destroying everything.

The fire carried an unbearable heat, sweeping toward Ning Xu and Si Yan.

The outcome was already predictable to the two demons.

No Nascent Soul or Body Integration cultivator could withstand the supreme Sacred Fire of the demon race. Even if she possessed the Mountains and Rivers Diagram, it wouldn’t make a difference.

Perhaps, if it were the original Mountains and Rivers Diagram, it might have been possible.

But… with a master who was only at the Spirit Transformation Stage, there was no way it could work!

Just as the old demon was confidently waiting to see Ning Xu and Si Yan reduced to ashes, she was shocked to find that not only were they unharmed, but Ning Xu had even subdued the Sacred Fire!

The old demon stared in disbelief at the obedient flame resting on Ning Xu’s fingertip. “What… what’s going on? How can this be? No, this is impossible!” Yet everything unfolding before her eyes proved otherwise—what she thought impossible had actually happened.

The Sacred Fire, which should have burned a Spirit Transformation cultivator to ash within three seconds, had done absolutely no harm to Ning Xu and Si Yan!

Ning Xu toyed with the small flame at her fingertip and smiled slightly. “Why is it impossible?”

The old demon’s hand trembled on her staff, her aged, bark-like skin quivering as she asked, “How did you do it?”

Naturally, Ning Xu wouldn’t answer.

These demons assumed her trump card was the Mountains and Rivers Diagram, but they had no idea that her greatest asset was actually the Melon-Eating System.

They hadn’t even figured out what her real trump card was before launching an attack—no wonder the outcome was obvious.

Although the Melon-Eating System was currently offline, during the time it was bound to her, she had learned a great deal.

Over the past year, after advancing from Nascent Soul to the Spirit Transformation Stage, she had deliberately studied various aspects of the cultivation world to prepare for the possibility that the Melon-Eating System might go offline.

After all, relying on others was never as reliable as relying on oneself.

Knowledge was the only thing that truly belonged to her.

The reason she recognized the Grade Seven Entrapment and Execution Array just now was that she had read about it in the ancient texts provided by the Melon-Eating System—including the method to break it.

Cultivators already had good memories, and after reaching the Spirit Transformation Stage, her ability to retain information had improved even further, allowing her to memorize things at a glance.

She and the Melon-Eating System had long suspected that once the peace agreement between humans and demons expired, the demon race would inevitably stir up trouble. So, she had deliberately crammed a lot of knowledge about the demons.

And her efforts had not been in vain.

If she hadn’t put in the work, she wouldn’t have been able to subdue the Sacred Fire of the demon race so easily today.

For a human cultivator to subdue the Sacred Fire of the demon race was nearly impossible.

Of course, Ning Xu hadn’t truly subdued it.

The one who had actually subdued the Endless Demon Fire was Brother Pig.

And as Brother Pig’s master, she naturally had the ability to control the flames possessed by her life-bound spirit beast.

The old demon was in complete disbelief—she had let a mere human cultivator take control of their demon race’s Sacred Fire!

If the rest of the demon race found out, she would be executed by Lingchi!

Ever since she saw Ning Xu not only break the Execution Array but also take control of the Endless Demon Fire, the old demon’s mental state had completely collapsed.

She murmured, “Hu Cao was right… The greatest threat to the demon race is clearly this female cultivator.”

“I mistakenly believed that the real danger was that male cultivator.”

“I was wrong. I was truly wrong…”

At that moment, as if realizing something horrifying, the elderly demon, who looked like she had lived for countless years, suddenly turned to glare viciously at Si Yan.

“With such a handsome face, who would have thought you’re just living off a woman?!”

She poured all her resentment and fear onto Si Yan.

If only she had listened to Hu Cao and focused her investigations on Ning Xu, today’s disaster might not have happened.

But she had assumed that since Si Yan had a higher cultivation level and greater talent, he was naturally the core of the duo.

Who would have thought that after all their careful planning, it was actually the female cultivator who had effortlessly turned the tables?

And that male cultivator? Other than standing there and watching, he hadn’t done a damn thing!

Clearly, she was the one leading their duo! And because of her own biases, the old demon had suffered a crushing defeat!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She spat out her words with fury, “A Body Integration cultivator shamelessly living off a woman! Relying entirely on the female cultivator beside you—don’t you have any sense of shame?! Are you really content being a freeloader?!”

“Is living off a woman just that enjoyable?! Is it really so irresistible?!”

The response she received was a calm, indifferent “Mm” from Si Yan.

The old demon and the cloaked demon standing nearby, who had been watching with high alert: “…”